Emma Thompson joins fight for the Arctic0:54

Emma Thompson and her daughter join a Greenpeace voyage to the Arctic to stop development in the region. Courtesy Greenpeace

August 8th 2014

3 years ago

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BRITISH actor Emma Thompson has been photographed holding a sign slamming world leaders, including Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott while she stages a climate change protest in the Arctic.

Thompson was holding up a sign that said “Tony Abbott Climate Change Is Real I’m Standing On It” while she visited the Smeerenburg glacier, east of Greenland.

She made the trip to the Arctic aboard a Greenpeace ship.

British actor Emma Thompson and her message to Prime Minister Tony AbbottSource:Supplied

Speaking from the deck of the Greenpeace Esperanza, Thompson said “We’re told that it is all our fault, global warming — we want the fuel, we want our cars, and that the oil industry is merely responding to the needs of a greedy public. But that’s simply not fair. Most of us want to live cleaner lives, but our governments don’t make these things easily available.”

Tony Abbott addresses the No Carbon Tax protesters during the infamous “Ditch the Witch” protest on the front lawn outside Parliament House in Canberra while he was Opposition Leader.Source:News Limited

The actor went on to say the world needed, “governments to stand up to the dirty industries that have for so long funded and controlled them, and to give us all an affordable chance to live our lives in a more sustainable way.”

The British actress has received messages of support from all around the world, and has been endorsed by some celebrities.

Greenpeace program director Ben Pearson told news.com.au what Emma Thompson had done was highlight international disbelief at the “dismantling” of Australia’s climate change policy.

He said Australia was the first in the world to repeal a carbon price and the fact Thompson had chosen to single Mr Abbott out was “quite telling” of the despair many in the international community felt about Australia’s position on climate change.

Thompson’s trip to the Arctic is part of a global Greenpeace campaign that has attracted over five million people in just two years.

Greenpeace is calling for a ban on dangerous oil drilling and industrial fishing in the Arctic, as well as the creation of a protected sanctuary in the international waters around the North Pole.